lais and Boulogne, and this objective he pursued
until Nov. 1.

On Oct. 23 the Belgians along the railway line from Nieuport to Dixmude
were strengthened by a French division. Dixmude was occupied by our
marines (fusiliers marins). During the subsequent day our forces along
the railway developed a significant resistance against an enemy superior
in number and backed by heavy artillery. On the 29th the inundations
effected between the canal and the railway line spread along our front.
On the 30th we recaptured Ramscapelle, the only point on the railway
which Belgians had lost. On the 1st and 2d of November the enemy
bombarded Furnes, but began to show signs of weariness. On the 2d he
evacuated the ground between the Yser and the railway, abandoning
cannon, dead and wounded. On the 3d our troops were able to re-enter the
Dixmude district. The success achieved by the enemy at Dixmude at this
juncture was without fruit. They succeeded in taking the town. They
could not debouch from it. The coastal attack had thus proved a total
failure. Since then it has never been renewed. The Battle of Calais, so
noisily announced by the German press, amounted to a decided reverse for
the Germans.

GERMAN DEFEAT AT YPRES.

The enemy had now begun an attack more important than its predecessor,
in view of the numbers engaged in it. This attack was intended as a
renewal to the south of the effort which had just been shattered in the
north. Instead of turning our flank on the coast, it was now sought to
drive in the right of our northern army under the shock of powerful
masses. This was the Battle of Ypres.

In order to understand this long, desperate, and furious battle, we must
hark back a few days in point of time. At the moment when our cavalry
reached Roulers and Cortemark (Oct. 28) our territorial divisions from
Dunkirk, under General Biden, had occupied and organized a defensive
position at Ypres. It was a point d'appui, enabling us to prepare and
maintain our connections with the Belgian Army. From Oct. 23 two British
and French army corps were in occupation of this position, which was to
be the base of their forward march in the direction of Roulers-Menin.
The delays already explained and the strength of the forces brought up
by the enemy soon brought to a standstill our progress along the line
Poelcapelle, Paschendaele, Zandvorde, and Gheluvelt. But in spite of the
stoppage here, Ypres was solidly covered, and the connections